When William Roland Blankenship was born on 24 June 1836, in Chariton, Missouri, United States, his father, Levi D. Blankenship, was 37 and his mother, Elvira Catherine Black, was 28. He married Susan Pratt Finnell on 25 May 1872, in Randolph, Missouri, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son. He lived in Keytesville, Keytesville Township, Chariton, Missouri Territory, United States in 1900 and Liberty, Ouachita, Arkansas, United States in 1900. He died on 8 February 1923, in Keytesville, Chariton, Missouri, United States, at the age of 86, and was buried in Keytesville Township, Chariton, Missouri, United States.